What To Expect During Your Stay

If you and your doctor have already decided that you can benefit from inpatient or transitional ​rehabilitation at the UPMC Rehabilitation Institute, here’s what you can expect:

A Team Dedicated to Your Recovery

Being in a rehabilitation unit is very different than being a patient in other hospital units.

In addition to doctors and nurses, you’ll have a dedicated team of skilled clinicians, also known as your treatment team. This team will work with you and your family to:

Develop goals

Customize a treatment program for you

Assess your readiness to move to the next step in the rehabilitation process

A Goal of Getting You Back Home

The main focus of inpatient and transitional rehab is to help you regain your independence and to prepare for going home.

Every day, your team will work with you to help you understand your diagnosis and find solutions so that you can manage your health care when you go home.

A Typical Day - Inpatient Rehabilitation

Your days in rehab are spent out of bed, outside your room, and involved in therapy and other activities for much of the day.

The times below may vary, but here’s how you’ll spend a typical day in rehab:

Breakfast — Your days will usually start around 7 a.m. Our goal is for you to be up, washed, dressed, and have already eaten breakfast before therapy starts. Breakfast can be served in either your room or the dining room.

Visit from your doctor — Your doctor usually will visit you once a day, most often in the morning.

Daily therapy — Daily therapy usually begins at 9 a.m. You could have between two and five hours of therapy each day. You might be working on balance in the therapy gym, walking or navigating your wheelchair in the hallways of the hospital, or even going outside. We are here to help you regain as much of your independence as possible.

Lunch and dinner are served in the dining room. We encourage you to eat with fellow patients and socialize before you turn in for the night.

Throughout your stay, you will be wearing your own clothes (we recommend dressing in gym clothes).